Las Vegas sportsbooks win big, end three-week losing streak

NFL Sunday on Halloween was a veritable house of horrors for bettors as Las Vegas sportsbooks won big to snap a rare three-week losing streak.

“It was our best Sunday of the year,” Westgate SuperBook vice president Jay Kornegay said.

BetMGM reported close to a multimillion-dollar win, and Caesars Sportsbook and Station Casinos also had winning days.

“I figured we would have a big bounceback after losing three weeks in a row, and it did happen,” MGM Resorts director of trading Jeff Stoneback said. “It didn’t make up for the last three weeks. But it washed out one of those weeks.”

Underdogs went 8-5 ATS with seven outright wins. The New York Jets and New Orleans Saints were, by far, the biggest winners for the books.

The Jets upset the Bengals 34-31 as 11½-point underdogs and +425 on the money line. New Orleans (+4) knocked off the Buccaneers, 36-27.

Jets eliminate Survivor entries

Cincinnati was the most popular play of the day at the books, accounting for more than 90 percent of the tickets on the game. The Bengals also were the most popular selection in the Circa Survivor contest, where 871 $1,000 entries were eliminated.

The Jets trailed 31-20 midway through the fourth quarter before rallying for the biggest outright upset of the season behind backup quarterback Mike White, who made his first career start a memorable one for himself and the books and a painful one for Bengals bettors.

White threw for 405 yards and three touchdowns and caught a 2-point conversion pass on the go-ahead score. One play after White hit Ty Johnson with a 19-yard TD pass to make it 31-26, Shaq Lawson intercepted Joe Burrow to set up White’s winning 13-yard TD pass to Tyler Kroft with 3:45 left.

New York’s other win was an Oct. 3 upset of the Titans that also knocked out hundreds of Survivor entries.

“The Jets are doing their part to help out the bookmakers,” Kornegay said. “We’re still waiting on the Jaguars, Texans and Lions.”

Bad beat for Rams backers

Houston dealt a brutal bad beat to Rams bettors. Los Angeles, which closed as a 16½-point favorite, led 38-0 midway through the fourth quarter when the Texans inexplicably exploded for 22 consecutive points for the dreaded backdoor cover in a 38-22 loss.

After scoring a TD with 8:08 left to make it 38-7, Houston forced a three-and-out, then made it 38-14 on Davis Mills’ 45-yard TD pass to Brandin Cooks.

The Texans recovered an onside kick and cut the deficit to 38-20 on Mills’ 9-yard TD pass to Brevin Jordan. Rams backers could still cash their tickets if LA stopped Houston’s 2-point conversion attempt, but Mills ran it in and turned those tickets into trash.

Luck not a Brady

Tampa Bay bettors had to like their chances when Saints QB Jameis Winston was knocked out of a 7-7 tie game in the first half with a knee injury and replaced by Trevor Siemian.

But Tom Brady promptly lost a fumble and threw an interception as New Orleans took a 23-7 lead. Brady rallied the Bucs with three second-half TD passes before Tampa Bay got the ball back down two with 1:41 left. But rather than direct yet another winning drive, Brady threw a pick six.

“I expected him to lead them downfield for the winning score,” Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito said. “That’s a bad loss for the Bucs with the way the Rams and Packers are playing right now.”

Also notching outright upsets were the Panthers (+2½, 19-13 over Falcons), Titans (+3, 34-31 over Colts in overtime), Steelers (+5, 15-10 over Browns), Patriots (+4, 27-24 over Chargers) and Cowboys (+4½, 20-16 over Vikings), who improved to 7-0 ATS.

Buffalo bailout

The Bills (-14½) bailed out bettors with a miracle cover in their 26-11 win over the Dolphins. Leading 20-11, Buffalo picked off a pass by Tua Tagovailoa and returned it to the Miami 11 with 2:21 to go.

On third-and-6 at the 7, Josh Allen ran it in for the TD and cover with 1:07 left.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.